Memories of the Past
by Dartz the Fire Demon
Summary: Written for NoWordsDiscribeMe. Title subject to change. Summary inside. This is my first Ranger's Apprentice story, so go easy on me. Contains book excerpts.
1. Crime and Punishment

Thinking of the Past: A Ranger's Apprentice fanfic

Summary: Will and Rachel grew up together as wards in Castle Redmont. They spent their whole lives together pulling pranks and were best friends. But what happens when Will is chosen to become the newest apprentice in the mysterious Ranger Corps? How will Rachel take being separated from her best friend?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story. The Ranger's Apprentice series belongs to John Flanagan. The plot and Rachel belong to NoWordsDescribeMe. The story itself is also written for NoWordsDescribeMe.

Author's note: This is a new project I started working on about a month ago and I'm finally starting to upload it. The first chapter or two of this story will take place during Will's early life, around the time he is eight. The rest of the story will begin on the night before Choosing Day.

Chapter 1: Crime and Punishment

Rachel stood outside the large double-doors leading into the kitchen, impatiently looking around. She sighed in frustration as she watched the shadows flicker against the walls of the castle in the dim light of the torches.

"Come on, Will." She said. "Where are you?" She heard a light tapping coming from the entry hall, as if someone were walking down the stairs. A second later a shadow appeared on the wall opposite her, illuminated by the torch mounted on the wall behind her. "Crap." Rachel dove behind a brazier set next to the doors and watched, as the shadow grew larger. Suddenly a small, crouched figure appeared around the corner and looked around.

"Rachel?" The figure asked quietly. Rachel recognized the voice at once.

"There you are!" She said quietly as she stepped out of her hiding place. Will turned to her and smiled slightly. "Where have you been? We were supposed to meet here twenty minutes ago!" Will's face darkened slightly.

"Sorry." Will said sheepishly. "Horace held me up."

"Of course. When are the two of you going to get over your pointless fights?"

"As soon as he stops being an ass."

"Whatever. Come on. We've got a prank to pull and we're behind schedule." The brightness returned to Will's face at the mention of the duo's prank.

"Cool. I still want to get Master Chubb back for hitting me with that spoon of his last week."

"Hence why we're doing this in the first place. You got the stuff?"

"Yep." Will held up a knapsack. "It's all in here."

"Then let's move." The two quietly ran through the double doors leading into the castle's kitchen. They snuck through the well-lit kitchen, dodging had-at-work kitchen aids and cooks until they reached a large pan of cake batter that was sitting on the counter at the far end of the room. Rachel held her hand out to Will.

"Give me the stuff."

"Actually, if you don't mind I'd like to do it." Rachel looked at her friend like he had grown a second head. "Are you crazy? If you get caught I can't get you out of trouble."

"I won't get caught. Trust me. Just keep an eye on Chubb."

"If you say so." Rachel turned and looked through the open kitchen door at the fat chef who was stuffing a turkey. "Alright. He's busy. Go at it, but make it quick."

"Gotcha." Will reached into the knapsack and pulled out a large bag of baking soda. He ripped open the top of the bag and began pouring the contents into the batter pan. Rachel continued to watch Chubb until he sat down his stuffing fork and began walking towards the door.

"Hurry up." Rachel whispered urgently. "Chubb is coming this way."

"Just... about... done!" Will crumpled up the bag from the baking soda and quickly stuffed it back into the knapsack. Rachel and Will quickly made their way back to the kitchen doors before Master Chubb could see them and slipped outside. once they were safe back in the hallways of the darkened castle they began laughing. "Man, I can't wait for tomorrow!"

"Me neither. I want to see the look on Chubb's face when it happens."

The Next Day

Will and Rachel stood in the anteroom outside of Baron Arald's office along with a very angry and frosting- covered Master Chubb. Jonathan looked up from the paperwork he was working on, took one look at Master Chubb, and gestured them inside. As Will and Rachel walked into the high-ceiling office accompanied by the angry kitchen master they adopted guilty looks and did their best to compose themselves. Baron Arald looked up at the three as they walked in and sighed.

"And what brings you two here today, Rachel?" Baron Arald said, smiling slightly and stifling a laugh as he took in the image of the cake- covered Master Chubb that came in behind them. "I would wager a guess that it has something to do with an exploding cake?"

"Yes, sir." Rachel said. "But I promise you we had nothing to do with it."

"And who else could it have been?" Master Chubb asked in a volume just below shouting.

"I don't know." Will said. "Exactly how many people were working in the kitchens on the wedding banquet last night?"

"Seventy- eight, but that has nothing to do with it." Chubb turned to the Baron, who was still seated at his desk, but had managed to compose himself slightly. "My lord, I spoke with the sentries who were on duty last night and many of them reported seeing Will walking around the castle halls after hours heading in the direction of the kitchen."

"So? Maybe I was heading to the bathrooms. The closest bathrooms to the Ward rooms are the ones right next to the kitchen." Rachel looked at Will admiringly. He had thought of everything to get them out of trouble.

"He has a point, Chubb." Baron Arald said. He turned towards the two kids. "You may both go. I would like to have a word with our kitchen master in private." Will nodded.

"Thank you for understanding, my lord." The two walked quickly out of the office and closed the door behind them before leaving the Baron's offices altogether and began walking toward the Ward rooms.

"That was awesome, Will." Rachel said excitedly. "I never knew you to be much of an impromptu speaker, let alone be one while you were in trouble."

"I don't have any idea how it happened, but at least it got us out of trouble."

"Do you think the others figured out it was us?"

"Probably. But at least we know they won't rat. Did you see the look on their faces? Even Horace and George were laughing when that cake exploded all over Sir Arnold."

"Well, it was one of our best. And we still have plenty of time to do better."

"You'd better believe it."

Well, that's the end of the first chapter. How'd you all like it? Please review, but no flames. I'll just use them to cook the hamburgers I'm making for dinner tonight.


	2. The Night Before Choosing

A/N: This was originally intended to be chapter 3, but do to some difficulties with the hard drive I usually save my work on, chapter 2 was lost. I'm too lazy to rewrite it, so this is going to be the new chapter 2. It's a somewhat shorter chapter than the last one, since the scene in the book wasn't very long in the first place, but that means it's up quicker and I can start on the next chapter sooner so be happy. If you aren't, well, that's your problem.

Chapter 2: The Night Before Choosing

"Come on, Will." Alyss said, sounding slightly worried. "You really should eat something." Will looked at Alyss sadly for a second then returned his gaze to the untouched food on his plate.

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen." Horace said with a smug grin on his face. "Shrimpy here is probably scared to death of tomorrow. If I were him I would be. Especially since there's no way he'll ever be chosen to become an apprentice." Rachel hit him across the head with her hand.

"Leave him alone, Horace." she said.

"And what will you do if I don't?" Rachel was silent for a moment as she tried to think of a response to this, and Horace to the silence as a sign of defeat. "Didn't think so. Besides, it's not like you're going to do any better. You're shorter than he is, and at least I feel it when he hits me." Rachel blushed as Horace let a out a full blown laugh at the two kids' embarrassment.

"How about _I _tell you to leave them alone?" Jenny said. "They're already bad enough as is. We all are. Your comments aren't helping anyone."

"Hey, anyone seen Will?" George asked. All five of them glanced at the space at the table that had once been occupied by the shorter boy, only to see it empty. Jenny sighed.

"See what you did? Now he'll be off sulking somewhere until all hours of the night."

"Hey, it's not my fault he kid can't take a joke." Horace defended.

"Did you ever think that maybe you _joke _a little too much, Horace?" Alyss asked, using air quotes to emphasize the sarcasm in her words. Rachel got up from the table and walked towards the door, stopping for a moment to hear Horace's response.

"Not really, no. He's just so easy to make fun of." Rachel walked out of the dining area and towards the door the led between the main body of the castle and the tower the Wards stayed in. She had a feeling she knew exactly where to find her best friend. She slowly opened the door, so as not to awaken the guards that were sure to be sleeping on the other side. After the incident with the wedding cake Chubb had somehow managed to convince Baron Arald to post guards outside the Wards' tower to keep an eye on them, but the guard that were always posted outside the tower were lazy and often fell asleep on the job around this time. Over the years, Rachel and Will had found many ways of sneaking past them in order to cause more havoc around the castle. Since the cake incident they had yet to be caught once.

Rachel snuck through the hallways, having a few close calls with the more active guard, but she managed to reach the large double- doors that led into the central courtyard of the castle. She noticed that one of the door was slightly ajar and knew that Will had been through. Rachel squeezed between the double doors and looked around to make sure there were no guards on duty. She knew it was around this time when the guards switched, but sometimes guards remained outside until their relief arrived. Luckily that was not the case tonight. The courtyard was deserted and completely empty save for the lantern posts lining the walls and a large tree that grew on the side of the Wards' tower. It was this tree that Rachel was looking for. Will loved climbing trees. It was one of the few things he was good at. The two of them had spent years climbing that tree. Even Alyss, Jenny, and George had attempted to learn how to climb trees as well as the two of them, though they had never become as good as the two friends, not being nearly as agile as the duo. Rachel expertly climbed the tree to the highest branch that could hold her weight and sat next to her best friend.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." Will said. "I'm just tired of Horace and his jokes. He thinks just because he has everything a warrior needs to get into Battleschool he can talk everyone else who wants to join down."

"I know you'll get into Battleschool, Will. You'll be the best warrior Rodney has ever had. And either way, I know your father would be proud of you." Will smiled and hugged Rachel.

"Thanks, Rache. You always know how to brighten my night." Rachel giggled and hugged him back.

"Of course I do. We're best friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course. So, enough of my problems. Have you decided what you want to do?" The embrace ended and Rachel looked up at the stars, biting her lip in thought.

"Yeah. I think I'm going to become a blacksmith's apprentice. That way we could see each other every day." Will nodded, still smiling.

"That would be great. I'm sure you'll make an awesome blacksmith, Rache."

"Right. So why don't we get out of this tree and go to bed? Big day's tomorrow, after all." Will nodded.

"Alright. I just hope we'll get back before Horace. I've had enough of him for the night." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Haven't we all." The two jumped down from the tree and made their way back to the bedroom the six of them shared. If only they knew what events would unfold tomorrow.


	3. Choosing the Chosen Pt 1

Chapter 3: Choosing the Chosen Pt. 1

The Wards sat in the anteroom outside Baron Arald's office waiting for him to call them in for the event that would determine the rest of their lives. Alyss and Horace sat confidently on the bench closest to the office door, deep in conversation about some subject or another. Jenny was squirming awkwardly in her seat while looking from the sundial next to the window to the scroll of parchment George was busily writing on. Rachel was sitting next to the window, looking down at the village as the villagers began their day. Will took all of this in within the minutes before Baron Arald's secretary, Martin, finally stood up from the paperwork spread out across his desk.

"Alright, you little pains." Martin said. "The Baron will see you now. Follow me." He led the six Wards into the Baron's office, where Arald sat at his own desk looking over what looked to Will like letters. He looked up at the seven entries and smiled.

"Hello, children." Arald said. "I trust you all slept well?"

"Yes, my lord." the Wards said, almost in complete unison.

"Good, good." Arald stood up and walked around to stand in front of his desk. "Today is a very important day for all of you. You will be presented to a handful of Redmont's craftmasters and leave with the knowledge of what you will each be doing for the rest of your lives, blah blah blah, you all know the spiel."

"My lord, please." Martin said. "This goes against protocol and tradition."

"I don't care, Martin. I'm the Baron here, and I will do what I wish."

"Of course, my lord. May I proceed?"

"Yes, I suppose." Arald gestured for the secretary to continue.

"My thanks, my lord. Okay, children. Line up by height, please. Tallest on the left, shortest on the right." The six Wards began moving at once, following the small man's directions. Horace, the tallest, took his place near the bookshelf on the left wall facing the door. Alyss stood next to him, standing strait with a confident air around her. After her came George, who was shivering from anticipation, then Jenny. Rachel looked at Will and motioned for him to go before her, even though she was an inch taller than her best friend. She knew how Will felt about his height, though she had no problem with it herself. Will nodded thankfully and went to take his place. Martin noticed the exchange and shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no. That won't do at all. You stand here," He took Rachel by her shoulders and positioned her next to Jenny. "then you on the end." Will stood at the end of the line, between Rachel and the right wall. Somehow he figured the Baron's office was not built for this situation.

"Sorry." Rachel muttered guiltily. "I tried."

"Don't worry about it." Will muttered back. "I'll deal." He gave her a small smile, then turned to face the door with the others.

"The Wards are ready for the Choosing, my lord." Martin said with a small bow. Baron Arald nodded.

"Thank you, Martin." Baron Arald walked over to the door the Wards had entered through, opened it, and looked out into the anteroom. "Your new recruits are ready for you, Craftmasters." He stepped to the side as the door opened wider to allow for the six Craftmasters to enter the room. They, too, lined up in a single row, having to stand shoulder to shoulder due to the confined space.

Sir Rodney, the head of Castle Redmont's Battleschool, was the first one in. Ulf the Horsemaster, who taught his students how to train and care for battlehorses, followed him, then Lady Pauline, the head of Redmont's Diplomatic Service. After Pauline came Nigel, the Scribemaster, and Master Chubb. Last was Master Barker, the blacksmith, who hesitantly took his spot next to Chubb. As the Baron greeted his craftmasters, Will chanced a glance around the crowded office and was surprised to find the dark figure of Halt, the Ranger of Redmont fief, standing beside Baron Arald's chair. He hadn't seen the man come in, but he was sure he wasn't dreaming. Rachel elbowed his arm subtly and he returned his attention to the Baron.

"First up, please." the Baron said. Horace stepped forward and saluted.

"Horace Altman, my lord." Horace said confidently. Horace dropped the salute and stood casually. "I'd like to apply for Battleschool, sir." Baron Arald nodded.

"Ah, yes, of course. Battlemaster?" Everyone turned their attention to Sir Rodney, who managed to step forward, even in the tight space, and inspect Horace.

"He seems strong enough, my lord." Rodney said casually. He looked Horace in the eyes. "Do you ride, Horace Altman?" Horace shook his head.

"No, sir." Horace answered. "Ward's aren't given the chance to learn, sir." Rodney nodded.

"Yes, of course. Well, that's something that can be taught. Very well." Rodney turned to Baron Arald. "I'll take him, my lord." Horace smiled and shook Rodney's hand thankfully.

"Thank you, sir." Rodney raised his eyebrows at the young man.

"Don't thank me yet, Horace Altman. Battleschool is a tough life. You'll report to me first thing tomorrow morning." Horace nodded.

"I will, sir. You can count on it." Horace and Rodney both stepped back in line.

"Very well, who's next?" Martin said. He looked at Alyss. She nodded and stepped forward.

"Alyss Mainwaring, my lord." Alyss said. "I would like to request an appointment to the Diplomatic service, please." Baron Arald turned to Lady Pauline.

"My lady?" he urged.

"Approved." Pauline said, almost before Baron Arald had finished speaking. "I've already spoken to Alyss, and I would be glad to take her on as my apprentice. Alyss bowed gracefully.

"My thanks, my lady." she said and stepped back in line. Pauline nodded in her direction.

"Very well, then. Who's next?" Baron Arald asked. George stepped forward hesitantly. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally muttering something to his shoes that no one in the room could hear. The baron cupped a hand to his ear and leaned forward. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"G-George Carter, sir." George said a little louder. "Scribeschool, sir." To everyone's relief Baron Arald signaled for Martin to stay silent before he could berate George for his address.

"It's alright, Martin. Let it go." Baron Arald glanced at Nigel, who nodded and stepped forward.

"Acceptable, my lord." Nigel said. "I've already taken a look at some of George's work. He really does have a gift for calligraphy." The baron looked at him doubtfully.

"He isn't the most forceful of speakers, though, is he? That could be a problem if he should ever have to offer legal council in the future." Nigel smiled and shook his head.

"That, my lord, will pose no problem. With enough training, he will overcome it." Baron Arald drew breath to comment, but Nigel continued. "In fact, it may surprise you that as a child I, too, suffered from a very nasty stutter. I could barely put two words together, let alone an entire speech."

"I see that's no problem now, though." Baron Arald managed to add lightly. Nigel took the point and nodded.

"Exactly, my lord. Young George will soon be completely over his shyness. You can have no doubt about that."

"I'll take your word for it." The baron turned to George. "Request granted, George. Report to Scribeschool tomorrow morning."

"Mumblemumblemumble." George said as he returned to his spot in line. Baron Arald leaned forward again.

"What was that?"

"Thank you, my lord." Baron Arald smiled.

"Think nothing of it. Alright, who's next?"

Author's Note: Sorry about the late update, everyone. I took a trip to D.C. for a couple of weeks and I couldn't get access to a computer long enough to finish the chapter up. And we've been having issues over at Youtube for the past couple of days so I haven't had time to do much. This chapter is a bit rushed, so if anyone finds a problem with it feel free to tell me, either in a comment or a PM, and I'll do what I can to fix it.


	4. Choosing the Chosen Pt 2

Chapter 4: Choosing the Chosen Pt. 2

Jenny quickly stepped forward, almost tripping over her own feet in the process. She quickly regained her feet and looked at the Baron confidently.

"Master Chubb, sir!" She said, embarrassment evident in her voice. Baron Arald looked at her and could see the overwhelming eagerness in her shining blue eyes.

"What about him?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. Jenny hesitated, realizing she had just broken the protocol of the Choosing.

"Oh! Your pardon, sir… my… Baron… your lordship…" Jenny's tongue was running at hundreds of miles an hour trying to remember the correct form of address for the Baron.

"My lord!" Martin corrected angrily. Baron Arald turned his gaze to the small man next to him.

"Yes, Martin?" he asked. "What is it?" Martin looked at his master, somewhat embarrassed, knowing that he was intentionally misunderstanding his interruption. Even so, he took a deep breath and quickly thought up an excuse.

"I simply wanted to inform you that the candidate's name is Jennifer Dalby, my lord." Arald nodded at him, and Martin caught a glimpse of the look of approval in the man's eyes.

"Thank you, Martin. Now, Jennifer…"

"Jenny, sir." The chubby girl said. Arald chuckled.

"Yes, of course. Jenny, I would assume you are applying to be apprenticed to Master Chubb?"

"Yes, please, sir!" Jenny turned her gaze to the red-haired kitchen master that Will and Rachel had come to enjoy pranking so much. Chubb scowled at the girl thoughtfully, looking her up and down from several different angles. She smiled winningly at him, but Chubb simply shook his head, being beyond such female wiles. "I'd work hard, sir." She pressed, hoping in some way to win over the cook. Chubb looked at her.

"I know you would!" He replied, reaching towards one of his pockets, likely housing the ladle he so often used to punish slackers. "I'd make sure of it! No lollygaggers or slackers in my kitchen." Jenny decided it was the time to play her trump card, fearing her chance might be slipping away.

"I've got the right shape for it." Chubb nodded thoughtfully. He had to agree that she was very well rounded.

"She has a point there Chubb." The kitchen master nodded again.

"Shape is very important. All great cooks tend to be rounded." He continued to look over the girl for another minute. It was all very well for the others to accept their trainees in the blink of an eye, he thought, but cooking was something special. "Tell me, what would you do with a turkey pie?" Jenny flashed her winning smile again.

"Eat it." She answered immediately. Chubb quickly rapped her on the head with his ladle, which seemed to appear in his hand in an instant.

"I meant what would you do about cooking it." Jenny hesitated for a second, gathering her thoughts, then plunged into a long-winded explanation about how she would go about cooking a turkey pie. Chubb nodded several times as she spoke, interrupting only once when she was detailing the rolling of the pastry. "Nine times, you say?" Jenny nodded, seeming unwavered by the sudden interruption.

"My mother always said: 'Eight times to make it flaky and once more for love'." Chubb nodded and motioned for her to continue. As she continued her explanation, the other occupants in the room moved their attention to other things, none of them understanding a word that was being spoken. Once she finally finished, Chubb just continued to nod.

"Interesting, interesting." He muttered. He turned to the Baron, who was in a light conversation with Sir Rodney about the effectiveness of battleaxes against bears. "I'll take her, my lord." Arald's attention was returned to the matter at hand, and he nodded once.

"What a surprise." He said mildly. "Very well, report to the kitchens in the morning, Jenny." Jenny nodded happily, relieved that she had managed to convince Chubb to take her.

"Thank you, my lord." Jenny said.

"And that leaves us with only two candidates remaining." Arald glanced at his list, then up to meet Rachel's nervous gaze. "Alright, then. Step up, please." Rachel hesitantly took a step forward.

"My name is Rachel, sir." The nervous girl said.

"Rachel who?" Martin pressed, flicking through the information with the candidates' details written on them. "What's your family name, girl?" Before Rachel could answer Baron Arald stepped in.

"Rachel and will are special cases, Martin." He said quietly, also silently asking the small man to drop the matter. He turned to Rachel, who was looking down at her shoes now. "What school would you like to apply for, Rachel?" Rachel quickly looked up, a confident flare in her eyes.

"I would like to apply for blacksmithing school, my lord." She said. Arald looked to Master Barker, who was already shaking his head sadly. Rachel suddenly lost all of the confidence she had mustered and a tear came to her eye.

"I cannot accept her, my lord." Barker replied to the unasked question. He turned to the small girl. "I am sorry, Rachel, but you are not fit to be a blacksmith. You are too short. I doubt we have even one anvil for someone of your height. By the looks of your body you also do not have the build we need in our blacksmiths. The job is very heavy- duty work, work that someone of your stature just could not manage. Again, I am very sorry." Rachel nodded sadly, tears streaming down her cheeks in waves.

"I-it's okay, s-sir. I…I unders-stand." Rachel stepped back into line and Arald looked down at his list.

"Okay, Will. You're last." Will stepped up quietly, tears already forming in his eyes.

"I would like to apply for Battleschool, my lord." He said, trying to sound confident. Arald allowed a frown to cross his forehead, causing Will to lose any hope that he might succeed.

"Battleschool, Will? Don't you think you're a little…small for that?"

"I haven't had my growing spurt yet, sir. Everyone says that." Arald glanced at his battlemaster.

"Rodney?"

"I'm afraid he's too small my lord." Rodney stated. "I cannot take him."

"I'm stronger than I look, sir." Will pressed. His hopes had hit rock bottom and he knew there was nothing he could do to convince the knight.

"I'm sorry, Will." The Baron sighed and placed his list on the desk next to him.

"Can any of you take these two children?" he asked. All of the craftmasters shook their heads, stating variations of 'too small' or 'not enough experience'. Will could only see the Baron through a watery blur now. He fought to keep the tears from rolling down his eyes. It was the ultimate embarrassment, being rejected from Battleschool, then breaking down and crying in front of everyone in the room. He needed to be strong. Rachel was rejected too, Will thought, and he needed to be strong for her. He was surprised when he heard the Ranger break the awkward silence of the room.

"There is something you should know about the boy, my lord." Halt said, stepping forward from his position next to the Baron's chair. He handed the Baron a piece of paper, folded in half to hide what was written inside. Arald unfolded it and read what was inside before turning a worried glance to Halt.

"Are you sure, Halt?" The Ranger nodded.

"I am."

"I will have to think about this overnight." He refolded the paper and placed it on his desk before drumming his fingers on it. Halt nodded and stepped back, resuming his unmoving position next to the chair. Will stared longingly at the paper on the desk, wondering what kind of information the mysterious Ranger had just passed to the Baron. "Congratulations to those of you who were selected today. It's a big day for all of you, so you're free to take the rest of the day to enjoy yourselves. Tomorrow you will report to your new craftmasters, and if you'll take a tip from me I would advise you to be on time." He smiled at the four taller chosen then turned to address Will and Rachel. "You two may also have the rest of the day to enjoy yourselves. Rachel, you will report to me first thing tomorrow morning and I will accompany you and help you find a family to adopt you. Will, I'll let you know tomorrow what I've decided for you." He turned his attention to the rest of the room. "Thank you, everyone."

The Baron then left the room through the door behind his desk, the craftmasters following his lead. Martin ushered the former wards through the door. They chatted excitedly about their new lives as apprentices. Rachel followed silently behind them, not even looking up at Will before she too left the room. Will took one last look at the piece of paper on the desk, longing to open it and see what was inside. However, he felt the sensation that someone was watching him and looked up strait into the gaze of Halt. He shuddered in fear and rushed out of the room.

'I need to find out what is on that paper.' Will thought, already plotting a scheme to sneak in and read it once night fell. He hoped Rachel would be willing to help him, even though he knew it would be dangerous for anyone involved.

**Me: Alright, this is a new record for me. An entire 1,500-word chapter written and edited in one night. Well, you guys can thank the wicked case of insomnia that's been developing in my brain over the past couple of months for this chapter. It's 2:30 am over here and I'm tired as hell, but I can't fall asleep. Anyways, again, thank my insomnia for the chapter, cause it gave me the time to think of how to get over my writer's block.**

**NEXT CHAPTER: A PLAN TO STEAL**


	5. Profile Update

To my loyal readers:

I hope you all haven't missed me too much. Being a high school senior, having a part time job that keeps me busy anywhere from 20 to 30 hours a week, and acting as a high-ranking member of my high school's JROTC program doesn't give me a lot of free time that I can use for things other than homework and what small social life I may or may not have.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you all this: I _do _intent to continue writing. I'm sure many of you are angry (or slightly disgruntled at the very least) that I have not updated many of my fanfictions in quite a while, but rest assured that nothing that is currently in progress on my profile is going to be deleted or discontinued. Everything will be finished eventually. With my last semester as a high school student finally begun, I've enjoyed the discovery that my schedule has cleared the air in front of me quite a bit. This means that I will be able to write more, and spend more time cooperating with my close friend Cdc100 on several ideas we've been working on for new stories. So right now I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about everything I'm working on and all my plans for the near future.

Prince's Return- For those who haven't read it, Prince's Return is the third story in a continuing series of Code Lyoko fanfictions, which started with my first fanfiction, Xana's Apprentice. I do plan on continuing this, but I'm having a MAJOR case of writer's block (like, a two-year-long case, if it wasn't obvious). Right now I'm going to stay with my original plans and keep this story on hiatus until I finish rewriting it's predecessors.

Virus Series Rewrites- Due to aging and changes in my writing style, I found the original versions of my first few stories to be a little haphazard in quality to say the least, so I decided to rewrite them. I may or may not keep the originals up, that's up to you guys. You can feel free to tell me what you think in reviews. I _am _still working on these. I'm mostly finished with Xana's Apprentice and parts of Xana's Revenge are also complete. However, I don't want to make the changes to the published chapters until I've finished both.

Cards of Lyoko- This story is actually mostly the work of Cdc100's expert hand, while I simply do the editing and posting. Due to the popping up of a few new ideas on my part, this is also possibly going to be rewritten. However, updates will not continue until Prince's Return is complete.

Memories of the Past- This story is a work I took up from an idea created by Fanfiction user NoWordsDiscribeMe. Many people have voiced their approval of what I've done so far in this story, and I'll let them know that I am still working on it from time to time. As my current work comes to an end this story will begin to see more and more updates.

Namine's Grace- This is the story that is currently taking up the majority of my writing time. It is also my favorite work so far, although that doesn't say much for its quality, as it is not something I began writing for myself, but for a friend who is very close to me and was, at the time, going through a rough patch after breaking up with her boyfriend of two years. I chose to finish this story first because, besides it being my favorite, it also makes my friend much happier. There is also the continued support of the few loyal readers who still follow me and voted for me to finish this first. This is my continued plan, and I have many ideas for where I could take the story from here.

That's all for my current stuff. Now I'll tell you all a bit about what I have planned for the future.

Number XV- A personal rewrite of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days containing my Nobody OC, Xeno, who appears in Namine's Grace. This story will not follow the plot of the game to a tee, but it will contain most if not all of the game's major plot points, just with my added OC. I may or may not change the ending sequence of the game to fit my own personal belief of how Roxas and Xion's story with the Organization should have ended. Again, up to you guys.

Untitled Sequel to Prince's Return- I originally planned to finish off the Virus timeline at Prince's Return and move on to other things, but new ideas have started popping into my head about a possible sequel, so I decided to go through with it. This story will take place a few months after Prince's Return ends, as Dartz finally returns to school in France. My reason for continuing the series past its original intended end is that I'm just not happy with how it's planned to turn out being the final ending to the series, more for personal reasons than artistic reasons. I won't say any more here, for fear of spoilers and possible hate mail.

Lightning Strikes- Although through my rewrites I wrote the Xiaolin Showdown crossover out of the Virus series, Auron was the first OC I ever created, and I simply didn't want to let him go without at least giving him some screen time. So this will be a Xiaolin Showdown story centering around how the Dragons meet Auron and how they become a team.

Untitled Pokemon x Code Lyoko crossover- A work between Cdc100 and myself, which has been in the works for some time but has yet to come past its planning phase. Since August I've had two polls asking viewer opinions on certain points of planning in the story, and so far two votes have been cast for one, and only one for the other. This is partially my fault for not foreseeing the lack of activity on my profile and advertising the polls using Author notes in my stories. So here I'm going to do just that. For two weeks after this note is posted I will have a viewer opinion poll up on my profile. If you are interested in this story, please give us your opinions. As soon as the poll is closed I will announce the results in a profile update and the second poll will be posted. Once these two polls are finished, the results will be announced and we will begin working on the story itself.

Now that that's done, I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about what I do outside of writing fanfictions. As I've told you all before, I'm a high school senior. I have a girlfriend, who has been with me and somehow put up with every single thing I've done, good and bad (mostly the latter), for the past two years. I have a past as an avid gamer, but this has become more of a recreation for me over the past few years. My main hobby is the Army JROTC program at my high school, where I hold the Battalion Executive Officer position after three years in the program. My grades are decent, mostly A's and B's with the occasional C here and there. I plan to go to college, though where I will go I have not yet decided. My future plans are to commission in the Army as an officer in the Military Police Corps with a forensics background.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this update, and I hope everyone has had their questions answered. If anyone has a question to ask about something I've said here, or if you have advice or ideas, please feel free to ask it in a review or a PM.

Dartz the Fire Demon


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